Valentines

Bree had fun putting her Toy Story valentines together....

And she was very excited to take them to her school class.
First stop for the Valentine festivities was Adrie's class party

Mercedes and Adrie


The class jammin out with their teacher
That afternoon was Kyra's class party


Summer, Kyra and Adrie

After school we made cupcakes
For dinner we had the good old heart shaped pizza
and fancy glasses
then the girls found a surprise in the mail bags.

The best part about the evening was that dad was actually home to eat with us and spend the evening together.....this crazy time of year (taxes) he is never home before 10 or 11 each night so that was a fun bonus for our love day!

Pray for Abigail

This is Abigail (and Bree)
Abigail is a twin. Both twin girls have down syndrome (which is extremely rare!) and their family recently moved back to our area and their kids attend the same school as mine so when Bree gets a chance to see Abigail or Natasha (the other twin) she runs up and hugs them. They are a year younger than Bree so we are hoping they stay in the area so they can go to the same elementary as Bree in a few years.

Well, Abigail and her family need prayers right now.

They just found out that Abigail has Leukemia.

This was taken from their family blog:

"Abigail was diagnosed at 2 a.m. this morning with Leukemia. We had taken her in because her leg hurt and she wouldn't walk. We went from probable toddler fracture to Leukemia in 2 hours. 13 hours later she was in surgery getting a permanant port, spinal puncture with chemo, and a bone marrow biopsy. Tomorrow or Sat. she starts 2+ years of cancer treatments. The success rate is 80%. Another fun statistic is that Natasha has a 50-75% chance of getting it. If not now, eventually. Please keep our little fighting angel in your prayers."

This family is amazing! They have 7 children, the oldest is in 4th grade, and in that 7 they have these precious twin girls who happen to have down syndrome.

Fight hard little Abigail! We will be praying for you and your family!

Bree's Birthday Party

We celebrated Bree's 4th birthday Minnie Mouse style with both families over.

Bree doing her silly face

I tried my hand with the iron on vinyl with my vinyl machine for her birthday shirt



Bree doesn't really get to excited about sweets and cakes so we had to include popcorn in the treat table!


Minnie cookies
Minnie cake
The treat table

As we were waiting for everyone to arrive, Bree did some performing in the dance studio
Bree and Lyla holding hands
This video is HILARIOUS! As we sang Happy Birthday to Bree she sang the entire thing to herself!!!!

Me and my Breezy girl

Madi and my new niece Lucy
Lyla trying to stand for a minute
Bree was very concentrated on opening her presents

Bree dancing to the new Dora doll

When Bret and his girlfriend Kellyn showed up, Bree only paid attention to Kellyn for the rest of the night!
Bree and her daddy!

4 Years.....

My little Breezy turned 4 yesterday! 4 years ago we were introduced into a club we never knew we wanted to be a part of. We were led down a different road than we had ever dreamed of going.
***(When I asked Bree to look at mom for the picture...she did this...the sign for mom and said "mommy"-instead of looking at the camera)***
We were scared of the unknown that was ahead of us but we immediately knew it would be ok because of the INCREDIBLE love we felt for you!
Because of you we have had experiences and grown in ways we never thought possible. We have made friends and met people we never would have met without you in our lives.
You have taught us to love unconditionally and accept people's differences

4 years ago we knew nothing about down syndrome, we were scared of it, and now I wouldn't trade it for anything because it makes you who you are, and it has made us better people for having you in our family.

Sometimes when I think back to those emotional first days of learning of your diagnosis, I feel guilty for having had those feelings because I am forever grateful to have you as my daughter...just the way you are.
If people could really know what it is like to have a child with down syndrome, they would pray for it, not pray to take it away.
Bree, this last year you have learned and grown so much! You have mastered the art of melting people's hearts with your hugs and your smiles. You have learned how to be a friend, and have made new friendships this year, you have learned so many words and are now putting them into sentences. You are doing so well in your dance class, school class, and new church class. We are constantly amazed at the things you are learning......you have even learned to master the ipad!

Since Bree’s birth I have always had a quote in our home that reads” Life doesn’t have to be perfect, to be wonderful.” My life was wonderful before I had Bree, I had 2 beautiful girls and a wonderful husband, and when Bree was born and I was told she had down syndrome, I thought my “perfect” was gone and yet I quickly learned, and continue to learn that my life is still wonderful, even more so now that my “perfect” has been reinvented.